TV Recaps

I have good news and bad news. The bad news is that in Episode 2, “Shot for Dots”, The Institute still has a lot of the same problems it showcased in the premiere.

I get the sense we’ll have to cut The Institute a bit of slack. There’s a compelling core story here, and Episode 1 hints at it repeatedly.

Depending on who you ask, contemporary entertainment’s sheer unwillingness to let go of a recognisable IP may or may not be killing the film, TV, and video game industries all at the same time.

Smoke has been a risky show since the beginning, especially since it waited until the final scene of its second episode to become interesting.

To give credit where it’s due, I didn’t expect The Buccaneers to rocket through Season 2’s overarching plot the way it does in Episode 4.

I knew this already, but Stick is a nice reminder that nobody plays smug better than Timothy Olyphant.

Jurnee Smollett is very good in Episode 3 of Smoke, which I think is important to point out, since I spent most of it being disappointed that more attention wasn’t being paid to Dave.

Murderbot is a weird show. I’m pretty sure I’ve said that before, but it’s worth reiterating, since even this deep into the season – Episode 9 is the penultimate outing – I’m still not sure what works best about it.

Love is a complicated thing, and The Buccaneers is struggling to keep track of it in Season 2.

Grief isn't an emotion you feel; it's a prison you live inside. Sometimes it feels like home.

The segment of The Rise and Fall of Sanctuary Moon that opens Episode 8 of Murderbot goes on for so long that I genuinely worried that it would constitute the entire 22-minute runtime.

Apple TV+ tends to premiere new shows with multiple episodes at once, and nowhere has that strategy paid off more than in Smoke.

You have to wonder what Marvel Studios is hoping for with Ironheart. I’m a professional film and TV critic, and someone had to tell me it was out.

Sending letters is a nightmare, isn’t it? You never know who might read them, for one thing, and then there’s the not insignificant fact that they take ages to get where they’re going.

I was very surprised by how suddenly Stick got good. But I wasn't entirely surprised to discover that Episode 6 takes a bit of a downturn.

You can make a lot of simple declarative statements about Episode 7 of Murderbot.

The tone of The Buccaneers is immediately different when Season 2 begins, and you can tell it’s going to stay that way.

I get it now. Stick has been an incredibly mixed bag so far, with a derivative vibe, two-dimensional characters, and diminishing charms.